Environment

The Ford Motor Co. recently closed its historic Twin Cities Assembly Plant on a scenic river bluff in St. Paul, Minn. In better times, the parcel of land might have made condo developers drool, but in today's real estate market, redevelopment of the old factory could be a long way off.

The industrial architect Albert Kahn was particularly skilled at making factories blend into their surroundings. The 2-million-square-foot plant has a classical stone facade that flows along the Mississippi River bluff. The red tile roof of its hydroelectric plant glows in the sunlight.

New regulations issued by the Obama administration will force the country's coal- and oil-fired power plants to reduce the emission of pollutants such as arsenic and mercury or shut down.

In a statement, the Environmental Protection Agency said the new standards "will protect millions of families and children from harmful and costly air pollution and provide the American people with health benefits that far outweigh the costs of compliance."

"From northern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle through Oklahoma and northwestern Kansas," The Associated Press writes, "blizzard conditions [on Monday and into today] put state road crews on alert and had motorists taking refuge and early exits off major roads."

Canada is withdrawing from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol agreement on climate change, with Environment Minister Peter Kent arguing that the framework doesn't represent the way forward for Canada or the world.

Kent is quoted by the AP as saying:

"The Kyoto Protocol does not cover the world's largest two emitters, United States and China, and therefore cannot work. It's now clear that Kyoto is not the path forward to a global solution to climate change. If anything it's an impediment."

Are shoppers getting their money's worth when they choose a salmon filet wearing an eco-sticker?

A study released this week by the University of Victoria's Seafood Ecology Research Group found that most eco-labels on farmed seafood don't reflect better fish farming practices than other products on the market.

Walking around the Newport Chemical Depot is pretty mundane. There isn’t much to see outside of a few abandon buildings. Some of them look unkempt and shoddy while a few others could be serviceable with a paint job and some cleaning.

In some areas the grass and weeds reach hip-high and the only noises that can be heard are birds chirping and the wind blowing.

The seven-thousand-acre development in Vermillion County that was once the home to U-S Army production facilities is now desolate, but Jack Fenoglio believes that can change.